At Number Four
by Rena Jade les Khioh
Summary: Harry's life at Privet Drive the summer after his sixth year is even awfuler than usual. Dudley has found a way to get even more obnoxious than before. And, as always, there's more to the story...


Don't own Potter. I think it goes without saying that I'm the only one creepy and weird and strange enough to attempt this . . .

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Harry sat on the curb at number four Privet Drive, skimming through his battered copy of 'Qudditch through the Ages'. It wasn't as though he hadn't memorized every line, but he had long since completed his homework and written stacks upon stacks of letters to every friend he had. Hedwig was off delivering a note to Hermione, so there was really nothing better to do.

Occasionally he would catch a snippet of conversation or laughter from the park down the road, where Dudley and his group of arrogant Smeltings friends had claimed as their haunt for the day. Harry didn't even bother to deny his jealousy; all of his own friends were miles and miles away.

Dudley and his group had always annoyed Harry, that was a given. They were rude, obnoxious, and constantly attempting to find a target to bully. More often than not, Harry was chosen. And as of lately, they were becoming more and more unbearable. There were a few reasons for this.

The first was that Harry's seventeenth birthday was drawing near. This didn't seem as though it had to do with anything at all, but it did. Namely, this was one of the last few months when Harry was restricted from doing magic outside of the boundaries of Hogwarts. The frustration in waiting for the day to come where he could give them what they'd been asking for since day one was ever-increasing.

The second and foremost reason was that Dudley had something new to brag about. In his mind, and Harry's as well, it was the best thing yet. There was a new member to his posse. And this member was different.

Harry would never forget their first meeting…

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It was the last day of school at Smeltings High. Harry had been home a couple of days now, and a very peaceful couple of days at that. Dudley home in the evenings alone was obviously quite preferable than Dudley home all day.

Harry had been rather dreading the beginning of his cousin's vacation time, or at least he cringed whenever it occurred to him. It would mean all of Dudley's nasty little friends would spend their time wandering the streets of Privet Drive, scaring all the grade school students and shouting catcalls to Harry whenever their paths crossed. Which hopefully would not be too often.

Just a few minutes later, Uncle Vernon's car pulled into the driveway (as Dudley was still procrastinating getting his license). Harry got up and looked out the window of his bedroom. Dudley, of course, was first to emerge from the car. However, for some reason, he didn't slam it immediately. Instead he held it open.

What Harry saw next made him gasp audibly.

A tall, slender brunette emerged from the car behind him. She wore a Smeltings uniform; which for girls meant a white French-collar shirt and a pleated knee-length skirt in the school colors of orange and brown plaid. She exchanged a smile and a few words with Dudley as she stood.

It couldn't be.

Harry's first thoughts on the matter were '_Who would agree to go out with him_?' However, his shock increased even more when he actually got a good view of the girl. She was, in fact, very pretty. And even more amazingly, she seemed quite attached to Dudley.

Seeing the two of them together on ordinary terms alone would have been enough to make Harry's stomach turn, but after the episode at the end of the year with Ginny, it was just plain infuriating. The fact that his horrible cousin could have a successful, worry-free relationship, yet he couldn't, seemed hideously unfair.

Harry continued to watch as they wandered up the front walk. Uncle Vernon seemed quite taken by her, and made what seemed to be very polite conversation the entire way up the front walk and to the front door.

As they entered, Harry didn't know whether he should lock his room door and pretend that he wasn't there (delaying the inevitable) or force himself to go downstairs and greet them casually, getting the dreaded meeting over with. He was on the verge of choosing the former when his aunt's voice called loudly from downstairs.

"Harry! Your cousin's home from school for the summer! Don't you want to come down and greet him?"

She was talking in her 'company's here' voice. It was sugar-sweet, and almost made it seem as though she actually liked him. Petunia Dursley was actually quite a good actress when the need arose.

"Coming, Dear Aunt!" Harry replied in his best mimic of her false tone. He knew that he was asking for trouble, but was really beyond caring. If he was going to be forced to come down and take the worst of the bragging from Dudley, they would take what they got.

He emerged from his room, taking the stairs as slowly as he could. When he finally reached the living room, his aunt and uncle were sitting on the sofa, and Dudley was standing in the middle of the room with the unidentified female. Harry sat in a chair nearby.

In the split second before Dudley started talking, Harry thought he saw the girl's eyes flit to the lightning bolt on his forehead. Harry was surprised at first, but reasoned that it _was_ an unusually shaped scar, even for someone that didn't know the story behind it.

"Dear Mum and Dad, and Cousin Harry," Dudley's pompous voice ended his reverie. "I would like to introduce you to Victoria. Victoria, this is my mum, Petunia Dursley, my dad, Vernon Dursley, and my cousin, Harry Potter."

"Nice to meet you all," Victoria said modestly, nodding her head once. She commenced to shake the hands of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, and finally Harry. As she did so, they locked eyes for a moment. Harry supposed he could have imagined it, but was almost sure that he saw her raise an eyebrow.

"Victoria and I have been together since the end of April," Dudley continued, his voice becoming a steady drone in the background.

Victoria looked around the room, as though she was feeling a little awkward. Harry didn't blame her entirely, but did consider it partially her fault for choosing to date somebody like Dudley. Harry almost felt sorry for her, but not really. While he was stuck with his nauseating cousin by obligation, she spent time with him by choice. That hardly seemed logical, much less fair.

"Oh how wonderful!" Aunt Petunia exclaimed when Dudley finished. "You two are so charming together." Harry begged to differ; Victoria was at least twice as attractive as Dudley, not to mention about a foot taller.

"Vicotria, dear, would you like to stay for dinner?" Petunia offered, smiling. Harry was not surprised; he should have expected this. Whenever his aunt wanted to impress someone, her first action always seemed to be inviting them to dinner. And her cooking really wasn't that great.

"That would be lovely. Thank you very much," Victoria replied, her accent as clear and beautiful as ever.

"It's settled then. Meat and potatoes suit you?" Uncle Vernon asked. Victoria nodded.

'This,' thought Harry, 'is going to be an interesting evening.'


End file.
